Courtesy of Judith Gregg Librarian Catherine Arbogast heads out with a personalized book delivery from the Los Altos main library.

Love of learning and curiosity about the world sometimes grow only more urgent as a person spends more and more time at home, limited by age, health condition, or both. Librarians head out from the Los Altos main l...

Already known as an innovator in the tech field, Google Inc. is now moving in on the art world.

The Mountain View-based company July 11 launched the “Paint the Town” contest, a “moving art experiment” that invites California residents over the age of 13 to submit physical or digital artwork that would decorate the door...

Traci Newell/Town Crier The six-week, tuition-free Stretch to Kindergarten program, hosted at Bullis Charter School, serves children who have not attended preschool. A teacher leads children in singing about the parts of a butterfly, above.

courtesy of Rishi Bommannan Rishi Bommannan cycled from Bates College in Maine to his home in Los Altos Hills, taking several selfies along the way. He also raised nearly $13,000 for the Livestrong Foundation, which supports cancer patients.

The Town Crier’s recent article on coyotes venturing down from the foothills in search of sustenance referenced the organization Project Coyote (“Recent coyote attacks keep residents on edge,” July 1). Do not waste your time contac...

Photos by Alicia Castro/Town Crier Local residents participate in an exercise class at the Grant Park Senior Center, above. Betsy Reeves, below left with Gail Enenstein, lobbied for senior programming in south Los Altos.

Grace Wilson Franks, our beloved mother and grandmother, left us peacefully on July 16, 2015 just a few weeks short of her 92nd birthday. She was born to Ross and Florence (Cruzan) Wilson in rural Tulare, California on Septem...

Most of us have a place inside our hearts and minds that occasionally causes us trouble. For some, it is sadness, depression or despair. For others, it may be fear, anger, resentment or myriad other emotional “dark places” that at times seem to hij...

Council approves city holiday closures

The Los Altos City Council Oct. 8 unanimously approved a one-week closure of city offices during the holiday season.

The council opted to close city hall and the Hillview Community Center offices Dec. 25 through Jan. 1. Essential city services, such as police, fire and maintenance, will remain open and operational during the one-week hiatus. Building inspection services will also remain available on request. Affected city departments are expected to resume normal hours of operation Jan. 2.

In past years, Los Altos traditionally closed city hall, the city’s Municipal Service Center and the community center early Dec. 24 and 31, with full-day closures Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.

A city staff report on the item outlines several reasons justifying the closure, noting that other nearby cities, including Los Altos Hills, have instituted similar closures because of “the low number of citizens seeking municipal services during this holiday time period.”

The report added that affected Los Altos programs and services – excluding public safety services – received 110 visitors Dec. 24-31 last year, spanning city hall, the community center and the Municipal Service Center. That number, according to the report, equates to an average of seven visitors per site, per day.

Approximately 75 percent of calls to the city last year were related to winter storm problems or emergency situations handled by Maintenance Services, the report added.

The report concluded that the closure will also result in a small savings to the city in reduced utility costs, as well as a reduced liability for accumulated leave time by employees.

PG&E project scheduled in south Los Altos

A three-day PG&E project has been scheduled in November to extend the height of two electric transmission towers in south Los Altos.

Work on the towers – one located at the intersection of Fallen Leaf and Louise lanes, the other at the PG&E easement adjacent to Stevens Creek off Holt Avenue – is slated Nov. 17-19.

According to city and PG&E officials, the work is needed to provide additional clearance between transmission wires and the ground.

Residents and visitors in the area can expect to see crews using cranes to lift and install extensions to the top or mid-section of existing transmission towers. Power lines will be de-energized and rewired as part of the work. Residents should not experience an interruption in service during the project.

Residents with questions or concerns can call Customer Outreach Specialist Pamela Stevens at (408) 282-7530 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Water district hosts open houses

The Santa Clara Valley Water District is scheduled to host two open houses for residents to provide an overview of and answer questions about its Permanente Creek Flood Protection Project.

The first open house is slated 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in the Covington School multipurpose room, 201 Covington Ave., Los Altos. The second is set for 2-5 p.m. Saturday in the Mariano Castro Elementary School multipurpose room, 505 Escuela Ave., Mountain View.

The project, which aims to provide natural flood protection for more than 1,600 nearby properties, is funded by the Clean, Safe Creeks and Natural Flood Protection parcel tax, passed by county voters in November 2000.

Work on the project stretches more than 10 miles along the creek, starting at San Francisco Bay’s southwest shoreline and winding through Mountain View to Foothill Expressway in Los Altos. Four of five project design features are slated for construction starting next summer, including floodwalls, channel widening, a new diversion structure and a flood-detention basin at Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve.

Submit a Letter to the Editor

The Town Crier welcomes letters to the editor on current events pertinent to Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View. Write to us at 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022, Attn: Editor, or email editor Bruce Barton at bruceb@latc.com. Because editorial space is limited, please confine letters to no more than 200 words. Include a phone number for verification purposes. Anonymous letters will not be printed.

You can also have your say right here at losaltosonline.com – scroll to the bottom of any story to add a comment.